AMERICAN FOREST TREES 171 



world. Shipbuilding creates a heavy demand. Some of the leading 

 European nations use it as deck lining for battleships, and except 

 mahogany and teak, it is said to have no equal for that purpose. Its 

 cheapness gives it a decided advantage over those woods. 



Every important lumber market in the United States handles 

 Douglas fir, and its uses are so many that it would be easier to list 

 industries which do not use it than those which do. It is manufactured 

 into more than fifty classes of commodities, in Illinois alone. Among 

 these are boats, railroad cars, electrical apparatus, farm machinery, 

 laundry supplies, ladders, refrigerators, musical instruments, fixtures 

 for offices, stores, and banks, and sash, doors, and blinds. This list of 

 uses shows that its place in the country's industries includes much more 

 than rough construction. It may be stained in imitation of valuable 

 foreign and domestic woods, including walnut, mahogany, and oak. 

 The natural grain and figure of the wood may be deepened and improved 

 by stains, and this is much done by manufacturers of interior finish, 

 panels, and store and office fixtures. There is practically no limit to the 

 size of panels which may be cut in single pieces. It is easy to procure 

 planks large enough for whole counter tops. 



The best grain of Douglas fir is not brought out by quarter-sawing. 

 The figures desired are not those produced by the medullary rays, but 

 by the rings of annual growth. Therefore, the sawyer at the mill cuts 

 his best logs if intended for figured lumber tangentially, as far as 

 possible. In the state of Washington, which leads all other states in the 

 production of Douglas fir, its chief use as a manufactured product is for 

 doors, sash, and blinds, and the annual consumption in that industry 

 exceeds 50,000,000 feet. It is cut in veneers, and it is likewise used as 

 corewood to back veneers. Crossarms for telegraph and telephone 

 poles demand 35,000,000 feet yearly in Washington alone, and many 

 thousands of poles are of this wood. It is third among the crosstie 

 woods of the United States, the combined cut of oaks standing first, and 

 the pine second. It is rapidly taking high position as material for 

 large water pipes and for braces, props, stulls, and lagging in mines 

 and for paving blocks for streets. 



BRISTLECONE FIR (Abies venusta) is pronounced by George B. Sudworth to be 

 "the most curious fir tree in the world." It is found almost exclusively in Monterey 

 county, California, but a few trees grow outside of that circumscribed area. It has 

 been called Santa Lucia fir, because it was once supposed to exist only in canyons of 

 Santa Lucia mountains, but its range is now known to be more extensive. Monterey 

 county, California, is of peculiar interest to dendrologists. Three species of trees are 

 either confined to that area, or have their best development there. They are 

 Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocorpa), Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), and bristle- 

 cone fir. All are peculiar trees: the cypress because of its ragged form and ex- 



